Nine lives
by Topazicatzbeth
Summary: When Danny is hurt in an accident, is it just that, or is someone after the team?
1. Chapter 1

**Note: My usual beta is on vacation and I wanted to get this one posted before my holiday, so many thanks to a certain someone for reading it through and picking up any mistakes, even though they have never beta'd before. And having to deal with my English terms. Apologies for any mistakes left.**

** Just a short chapter to start off with.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own H50. This is just to satisfy my whump addiction.**

**Chapter One.**

Danny stood in his kitchen, chopping an onion while singing along to Bon Jovi. Grace was with Rachel in Vegas for the next two weeks and Amber had been called back to New York when her grandfather was taken ill. Danny had suddenly found himself with no plans. Deciding to call the team and invite them around for some food, then they could watch the game on TV.

He was well on his way with cooking dinner, when Steve, Chin and, Kono turned up. Letting themselves in, they sought out Danny and found him in the kitchen.

"Hey Danny, something smells good," Kono said leaning over to peer into a big pot of pasta sauce.

"Thanks babe. It's just a simple pasta dish. Beers are in the fridge," He replied.

"Need any help brah?" Chin asked, eyeing up the dining table already set with a big bowl of salad, parmesan and fresh crusty bread rolls.

"Nah, I'm good. It's almost done," Danny stated checking the pasta to see if it was ready.

"Thanks for inviting us around Danny, but you didn't have to cook. We could have gotten pizza," Steve said, grabbing beers from the fridge and passing them out. "Is this gonna taste better than the eggs?"

"There is nothing wrong with my eggs. But since Grace is with me more often than not, my cooking skills have improved greatly. Now shut up or you don't get any dessert," Danny joked.

"There's dessert too?" Kono asked, "I like these new found cooking skills."

"Well, I can't take credit for the dessert. Amber made it before she went back to New York to visit her sick grandfather. It's her grandmother's tiramisu. It's amazing, so make sure you leave room," Danny explained as he served up the pasta and sauce.

They all enjoyed the food together. Steve even had second helpings, much to Danny's delight. They all agreed that the tiramisu was the best they had ever had. After clearing all the plates away, they moved into the living room, ready for the game to start. Danny sat down on the couch next to Steve and flipped on the TV. There was a sudden pop and all the lights went out.

"Great," Danny sighed. "Sorry guys, it must have blown a fuse. Two minutes and I'll have it sorted." Getting up he entered the kitchen, thankful that there was still some light from outside, and grabbed a flashlight from the kitchen cupboard.

"You want a hand?" Steve called after him.

"No, I'm good. The fuse kept tripping out last month, but I thought the electrician had fixed it," Danny explained. Sliding open his glass door, he walked over to the box on the side of the house that contained the fuse box.

Opening it, he took a quick look, trying to see which fuse had tripped. Holding the flashlight in his right hand, he located the correct one and flipped it back up with his left. There was a sudden flash and a loud bang. He felt pain shoot up his left arm, shocked to find himself flying back through the air. Everything went black. Danny was dead before he hit the ground.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Note: As if I'd kill Danny. Whump him with in inches of death sure, but no way could I kill him.**

**sorry I didn't get to post yest. Was at work for 7am then went straight to a wedding and I forgot to take my I pad. Just got home so here it is. And don't worry 2 weeks til holiday and will be finished before I go. **

**Disclaimer: Still don't own them. **

**Chapter Two.**

"What the hell was that?" Steve shouted, jumping to his feet and racing out of the house, Chin and Kono hot on his trail.

Reaching the door, Steve knew instantly what had happened. The fuse box was smoking and Danny lay motionless on the floor. Quickly scanning the surroundings to make sure they were safe, Steve ran to his best friend's side. Chin pulled out his cell and dialed 911.

Kneeling by Danny's side, Steve placed his fingers on Danny's carotid artery, feeling for a pulse. Lowering his face to Danny's, he stared at his chest, watching to see it rise or feel a breath on his cheek. Waiting for 10 seconds to feel any of those things felt like the longest 10 seconds of his life. His heart started to speed up when he realised Danny had no pulse and wasn't breathing.

"I got nothing," He said to Kono, who had dropped to Danny's other side and was desperately hoping for good news.

Steve immediately started chest compressions and Kono opened Danny's airway getting ready to give rescue breaths. Steve finished his compressions and gave Kono the nod. She immediately forced two breaths into Danny, watching his chest rise with each one. Steve commenced compressions as Chin informed them that the ambulance was only a minute out as there was one nearby. He raced to the front door to show them through.

Steve and Kono continued working on Danny as, Ani, the EMT hurried through the door. She was familiar with the team and especially Danny. When the call had come through, she and her partner Jonah had sped to the scene.

Allowing Steve to continue with the compressions, Jonah took over from Kono by securing a mask over Danny's face with a bag attached, allowing him to better oxygenate him. Ani ripped open Danny's shirt, and working around Steve, she placed two pads on Danny's chest and started up the defibrillator.

Steve stopped compressions, allowing the machine to analyse a heart rhythm.

"He's in V-Fib," Ani announced. "Everyone move back, I'm going to shock him."

Everyone moved back a step and Ani hit the button on the defibrillator, sending a current through Danny's body, causing his back to arch. Having no effect, Ani took over chest compressions from Steve, while Jonah maintained Danny's airway.

Steve, Chin and Kono watched on in horror as the EMT's battled to save Danny's life. Each in shock at how their pleasant evening had gone so terribly wrong.

Ani and Jonah completed a two minute cycle and then stood back as the machine searched for a shockable rhythm.

"Still in V-Fib. Shocking again," Ani shouted.

"Come on Danny," Steve yelled. "Don't you dare do this to us."

Ani sent another electric burst coursing through Danny's body and they all watched as they were rewarded with a beep from the machine and the patten changed from a wavy line to a recognisable heart rhythm.

"Good man," Ani said patting Danny on the chest and letting out a huge sigh. Recovering quickly she moved to establish IV access while Jonah continued to bag Danny as he was making no effort to breath for himself.

"Is he going to be ok?" Kono asked, watching as Ani wrapped a dressing around Danny's left hand. She hadn't even noticed the burn that was there.

Looking up at three worried faces Ani explained, "We need to get him to the hospital so they can check to see if there has been any damage done."

"Why isn't he breathing for himself?" Chin asked.

"Give him time. It's perfectly normal after a cardiac arrest," Jonah reassured them.

Ani pulled over the gurney and they all worked together to transfer Danny onto it.

As they moved through the house, Chin told Steve to go to the hospital with Danny. They would take care of the house and meet him there. Climbing into the back of the ambulance, Ani took over Danny's airway so Jonah could drive. Steve looked at his partner, taking in how pale he was, but relieved that the blue tinge to his lips and skin seemed to be abating.

Steve stared at the line dancing across the screen of the heart monitor, almost afraid to look away in case it disappeared again. Finally tearing his eyes away, he looked down at Danny and realised he has completely missed Ani swap the oxygen masks over. Danny was now breathing for himself so only required a standard mask.

"He's doing ok, Steve," She reassured him. "His blood pressure is much better and he's breathing now, heart rates holding steady."

Steve let out a sigh of relief, "Thanks Ani. God I thought we'd lost him that time. Damn electrics. They were supposed to have been fixed last month. When I find out what electrician he used, they're gonna wish they never met me."

"I bet," Ani replied, knowing the reputation Steve had when he got mad.

Once at the hospital, Danny was rushed into the emergency room, while Steve was made to wait outside. He was able to watch through the window as Ani and Jonah filled in a small, pretty young female doctor with blonde hair, about what had happened.

The nurses worked quickly and professionally to connect Danny to their monitors and draw blood. Steve could see Ani talking the doctor through the print out from the cardiac monitor. As she stood by Danny's head, she was the first to notice his eyes slowly open. She moved quickly to reassure him and explain what was happening. But Danny only got more anxious as he was disorientated and unsure what had happened.

Steve watched his partner try to remove the oxygen mask and wanted to barge in through the doors. He was saved from doing that when Ani spoke to the doctor and she suddenly turned and opened the door to let Steve in.

"I'm Dr. Pearce. I'm in charge of Danny's care. He has woken up and is rather anxious. Ani informs me that you're the best person to calm him down. If you could, that would save me from sedating him. We need him calm and I don't want to stress his heart out any more," She explained.

"Of course," Steve said, moving to Danny's side. "D, you need to calm down. You're at the hospital ok? You received a shock from the fuse box." Grabbing Danny's left wrist to stop him dislodging the oxygen mark he placed his other hand on Danny's forehead to anchor him and they locked eyes. "Calm down and let the doctor and nurses do what they need to do. Ok?"

Danny gave a small nod as he started to understand what had happened and Dr. Pearce moved into his line of sight. "Danny, I'm Dr. Pearce. When you received the shock it stopped your heart, so I need to make sure there was no damage done." Seeing Danny's eyes shoot wide open, she tried to reassure him. "Everything is looking good so far Danny, but we are going to need to keep a close eye on you for a bit and probably get a scan of your heart. We are going to move you to the coronary care unit soon, where you can get some rest before the scan."

"Ok," Danny replied glancing back at Steve nervously.

"Can I stay with him?" Steve asked, hoping that his presence would help keep Danny calm.

"As long as you don't get in the way, I'm fine with that. Is that ok with you, Danny?" Dr. Pearce asked.

"Yeah," Danny replied. "Steve?"

"Yeah, D. What is it?" Steve asked.

"Is everyone else ok? No one else got shocked did they?"

"No Danny. Just you. You scared the crap out of us. I don't ever want to have to give my best friend CPR again."

"CPR?" Danny questioned. "Crap, did you give me mouth to mouth?"

"No, Kono had that pleasure," Steve laughed.

"That's a relief," Danny huffed.

Dr. Pearce moved back to speak to Danny. "We're just going to dress your hand and foot now, and then we will get you to the CCU."

Steve glanced down at Danny's right foot and saw the small exit burn similar to the one on his left hand. "Are they bad?" He asked.

"No, they're superficial, but we'll dress them so they don't get infected," She explained.

Steve remained by Danny's side while the nurse cleaned and dressed the burns. Danny had drifted off into a doze and Dr. Pearce reassured Steve that he was doing fine. Soon they were ready to transfer Danny to the CCU for careful monitoring and tests to see if there had been any permanent damage done.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**Note. Thanks for all the reviews, keep them coming. Don't just read and run. **

**Disclaimer: just whumping for fun. I Fo not own H50.**

**Chapter Three.**

Steve waited outside the room while they got Danny settled. CCU was similar to the ICU with all the rooms leading off a central nurse's station. Monitors were spaced out across the desk so they could see their patient's heart rhythm without being in the room.

Chin and Kono came racing towards Steve. "How is he?" Chin asked. "The nurse just sent us up here, didn't tell us anything," He explained.

"He's doing ok. Really he is," he repeated, seeing Kono's worried look. "He started breathing for himself in the ambulance and regained consciousness in the ER. They need to monitor him and are going to do a scan to check for any damage to the heart."

"Is that a strong possibility?" Kono asked, her worry renewed.

"Doc didn't say. But his heart rate has been steady. They seem happy with him," Steve comforted.

Dr. Pearce then exited the room. She had accompanied Danny during the transfer which showed how ill Danny still was and that the doctors weren't willing to rule him out of danger yet.

"You can go in now," She said addressing Steve. Seeing the two new team members she continued, "You can all go in, but please don't let him over do it. Keep him calm. They should be here to do the scan within the hour."

"Thanks doc," Steve said, then entered Danny's room.

Chin and Kono were relieved to see Danny looking so much better. The last time they saw him, his skin and lips were tinged blue and the bag and mask was clamped to his face. Now Danny lay propped up in bed, a nasal cannula tucked under his nose and behind his ears, and while still pale, he looked a much healthier colour.

"Hey guys," Danny greeted them. Steve was relieved to see Danny much more with it than he had been in the ER, putting to bed any concerns Steve may have had about oxygen deprivation and brain damage.

"Don't ever scare me like that again," Kono ordered walking over and taking Danny's good hand.

"Sorry," Danny replied looking guilty. "I don't even remember what happened. Last thing I remember is the power going out."

"It's staying that way too. We got the main power cut to the house and cleared out the fridge and freezer so the food won't spoil. My cousin is an electrician and he's going to look it over next week. I want someone we know we can trust fixing whatever problem caused this," Chin explained.

"Thanks guys. Guess I was really lucky you were all there. If I hadn't invited you over..." Danny stopped. He didn't need to finish the sentence. They all knew that if they hadn't been there, Danny wouldn't be alive now.

"The main thing is, you're ok now. Let's get this scan done. When you're discharged, you're staying with me 'til the house is sorted," Steve replied.

Danny nodded, then shifted his weight in bed, wincing as he did so. Steve of course didn't miss it and asked, "You ok?"

"Yeah," Danny replied. "Just these stupid sticky pads for the wires, they pull at my chest hair."

"We could always shave it off, or wax it?" Kono laughed.

"No thanks, babe. I think my body's been through enough for one day," Danny sighed.

They sat down around Danny's bed to keep him company while waiting for the scan. Danny kept dozing off, only to startle himself awake again. Forty-five minutes later, a technician entered Danny's room pushing a large machine that had a screen on it. Chin and Kono exited the room and went in search of coffee for everyone. Steve remained by Danny's side, keenly aware that Danny was anxious about the results. If the shock had damaged his heart, not only would it be devastating for his health, but it would ruin his career too.

The technician explained what he needed to do, then lowered Danny's gown and covered Danny's chest in gel. Then he ran the probe over Danny's heart. Steve saw Danny clench his fist in an effort to control his anxiety and took ahold of his hand. "It's ok, Danny. It'll be over before you know it," Steve tried to reassure.

After a few more sweeps across Danny's chest, the technician had Danny roll on to his side so he could get a view from behind. Then he cleaned Danny's back and chest from the gel and explained he needed to show the results to the Doctor.

Ten minutes later Dr. Pearce entered the room. "Good news Danny. I've reviewed your chart and the doesn't appear to be any permanent damage done. You've been very lucky."

Danny and Steve each let out a huge sigh. Steve then patted Danny on the shoulder, "Close call buddy, too close."

Danny nodded and Dr. Pearce agreed. "Yes, you were very lucky to receive such effective treatment straight away. You definitely owe your life to your friends and ambulance crew. Now I want to keep you here over night and continue monitoring you closely. The IV stays, but all being well, I should be able to discharge you in the morning as long as you take it easy for the next few days."

"That's great, thank you Dr. Pearce." Danny smiled.

"Thank me by getting some rest now. When your friends return, I want you to wind up the 's getting late now and I want you to sleep," She ordered.

Danny nodded and sank back into the pillows. Dr. Pearce turned to leave and Steve followed after her. "Doc, I'd really like to stay the night. I don't want to leave him here alone."

"Very well, but just you. I'll clear it with the nursing staff," She allowed.

Chin and Kono returned shortly after to find Danny sleeping and Steve smiling away. They knew instantly that they must have received good news. Steve filled them in and then, as the doctor had requested, they left for the night.

Steve settled down in the chair beside Danny's bed. As it was now getting late, he allowed himself to drift off to sleep, lulled by the reassuring, steady noise from the cardiac monitor.

In the morning Danny was given another examination, and then discharged. Steve happily pushed Danny's wheelchair down the hall and outside the hospital where they waited for Chin to pick them up and take them back to Steve's.

Steve had been given instructions on how to redress the burns on Danny's hand and foot. Danny had reluctantly agreed to stay with Steve for at least a week,giving his injuries time to heal and time to get the electrics fixed by someone they trusted. He had refused, point blank, to give Steve the name of the Electrician that had been out the month before to supposedly fix the fault. He knew that Steve was liable to try and throw the poor guy in a shark tank as punishment.

Danny was forced, by the rest of the team, to take it easy all that Sunday, so he decided to make the most of them waiting on him hand and foot. He knew he had scared them all, and if it made them feel more relaxed, he would go with what they wanted.

After lunch, Danny received a call from Grace, who was rather upset that Danny hadn't been around to take her call the night before. Danny apologised and explained what had happened, greatly playing it all down so not to scare his daughter. He was then forced to give a more detailed version to a worried Rachel who had overheard the phone call. After hanging up, he decided to call Amber to see how her grandfather was doing and fill her in. He then spent half an hour convincing her to stay with her family, and that he was fine now, and she didn't need to fly home. Finding himself tired after all that, he reluctantly went down for a nap at Steve suggestion. It was obviously going to take his body sometime to bounce back.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**Note. Thanks for all the reviews. **

**4thofFive: can't reply personally as you're signed in as a guest, but thanks for the comments about the medical stuff. As a nurse, one of my biggest pet peeves is when tv shows which I'm sure could get a medical adviser, totally get it wrong. Shocking a flat line... Argh. So I made sure I research any areas that are outside my knowledge. **

**Chapter Four.**

Danny remained at Steve's as planned for the next few days. The team had picked up a new case and Danny was going out of his mind with boredom, and frustration, at not being able to help. He was feeling back to his old self, and the burns to his hand and foot had healed enough that they didn't need dressing anymore. When Steve had finally got home Wednesday night they had a blazing row about Danny returning to work the next day. Steve had finally given in and agreed that Danny could come back, but only on desk duty for the rest of the week.

Danny returned to work the next day. He made himself busy around the office, completing paperwork, and doing an overdue audit that Steve had been putting off and the Governor was now pushing for completing.

Steve, Chin and, Kono had been out most of the day. They had ended up raiding a house, involving their current case, which had surprisingly brought it to an end with several arrests made. Now all four team members were in their offices, working in their reports from the bust that day, while Danny finished off the audit. Looking up from his computer he was the first to notice the delivery guy enter the office carrying a large gift basket.

He met the guy and signed for it, thanking him and then taking it over and placed it on a table. All three other team members exited their offices wondering who the hamper was from.

Danny took the note out of the envelope and read aloud. "A small token of my gratitude for all your hard work. Governor Denning. P. S. Welcome back to work Detective Williams."

"Wow, that would be a first," Kono said reaching into the hamper.

"Yeah, he must have been feeling generous," Steve said puzzled by the Governors sudden generosity.

"Are you kidding me?" Danny suddenly exclaimed, pulling out a bottle of beer.

"What? Not to your liking?" Chin asked.

"Exactly the opposite, Chin Ho Kelly. I can't believe he got this," He said, holding up the bottle so the others could see.

"Hudson Pale Ale," Steve read.

"Man I got so drunk on this stuff when I was sixteen. I though my dad was gonna kill me when I staggered home and found him waiting up for me," Danny laughed.

"Never heard of it before," Steve said checking out the rest of the hamper.

"It's made in New Jersey. I can't believe the Governor went to so much trouble. You can't buy it here," Danny said.

"He didn't go to that much trouble, there's only one," Kono teased.

"I call it," Danny said.

"It's all yours brah," Chin chuckled as Steve shook his head. He couldn't believe his partner was so excited over a bottle of beer.

"Well it's getting late, I think we should knock off and crack these open," He said passing Chin and Kono a beer.

"Excellent idea. I'm parched," Danny said, popping the lid off the bottle.

Danny gulped down half the bottle before he stopped to savour the taste. When he did, he realised something was terribly wrong. The beer tasted extremely bitter, not the taste he was familiar with, with this pale ale. He saw Steve raise his beer to his mouth and suddenly knocked it away, realising there was something really wrong.

"What the hell Danny?" Steve yelled, shocked at his partner's sudden outburst.

"Don't drink them, I think they're spiked," He answered wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.

"What?" Chin said, smelling his beer. "It smells fine."

Steve took Danny's beer and smelt it. "This one doesn't," He said, screwing up his nose. The beer had a weird chemical smell to it.

"It tastes really bitter too. That's not what it should taste like," Danny replied.

"Maybe it's gone off?" Kono suggested.

Steve pulled out his phone and dialed the Governors private number.

"McGarrett, what can I do for you?" Governor Denning asked.

"Sir, did you send us a hamper of beer?"

"Beer? No. I haven't sent you anything. Why?" Governor Denning replied.

"We just had a gift basket delivered with a note saying it was from you. We thought we'd knock off early and have one, but Danny's beer tasted funny. He thinks it's been spiked. And if you didn't send it, then there's a chance he could be right," Steve explained.

"Is Detective Williams okay?" Governor Denning asked.

"Yeah, he seems fine so far, but I think we need to get the drink to the lab, just to be sure. I'll keep you informed sir." Steve hung up. "Chin can you get all this to the lab, have Charlie analyse it. Kono ring and let him know Chin's on his way."

Chin and Kono sprang into action, hurrying to fulfil their boss' request.

"You ok?" Steve asked Danny, concerned for his friend.

"Not really, what the hell could be in it?" Danny replied nervously.

"I don't know, maybe nothing. It could just be a bad beer, buddy, but I think to be on the safe side we should head to the hospital. After you go try and throw up," Steve said steering Danny to the bathroom.

"Oh joy," Danny replied.

Danny emerged from the bathroom ten minutes later to a worried Steve and Kono.

"You ok, brah?" Kono asked.

"Yeah just peachy. Just how I wanted to round off my first day back. A trip to the hospital," He snarked.

"Come on, let's go," Steve said and all three headed for the car.

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

At the hospital, Steve was getting rather frustrated as he tried to explain to the triage nurse that Danny may have been poisoned.

"So the beer tasted bitter, that's all you've got to go on?" She asked.

"Yes, but like I've already told you, we already sent it to the lab to be analysed," Steve sniped back.

"And how do you feel sir?" She addressed Danny.

"A bit nauseous now," Danny replied honestly.

"See, he needs to see a doctor now," Steve demanded.

The nurse sighed at the over dramatic reaction. "And he will, but sir, we have much sicker patients here that need to be seen first." She explained.

"Is everything ok, Sally?" a female voice asked from behind. Turning around Steve was relieved to see the familiar face of Dr. Pearce. The doctor who had treated Danny when he was brought in after the electric shock.

"Dr. Pearce. Hey. I was just trying to explain to the Nurse here, that we think Danny has been poisoned. We aren't sure what with yet. The lab is analysing the drink as we speak."

"And I was explaining to the Commander, that with only nausea as a symptom, and nothing more to go on, they would need to wait to be seen," the nurse replied.

"It's ok Sally. I was about to go on break, but I'll take care of this. Come on Danny, let's get you into exam three. We can at least run some blood work while you wait for the results." Dr. Pearce offered.

"Thank you," Steve said, relieved that they were now being taken seriously.

Danny followed Dr. Pearce into the exam room and sat on the gurney. Suddenly looking rather green, Dr. Pearce saw his colour change and passed him a vomit bowl just in time for Danny to start dry heaving.

"Ok, let's just get a set of vitals shall we?" She replied, checking Danny's blood pressure and pulse. She then opened a draw and removed some supplies, quickly inserting a cannula into the back of Danny's hand. She drew off blood for testing, then connected up a bag of saline and started running in fluids.

Danny wiped the tears from his eyes from the dry heaving and stared at his hand. "What's the drip for?"

"You obviously ingested something that's making you sick. So until we know what it is, I'm going to try and flush your system to help remove whatever it was. I'll send the blood to the lab for analysis and get you an anti-emetic to help with that sickness," She explained and left the room.

A nurse came in and helped Danny change into a gown, settled him back on the gurney, then administered the anti-emetics. Steve and Kono waited outside and were soon joined by Chin.

"How's he doing?" He asked.

"He started feeling sick, but that's it so far. They've started him on a drip to flush his system," Steve explained. "We really need to know what was in that drink."

"Fong started processing Danny's beer straight away. He should have an answer to that pretty soon," Chin reassured.

As if on cue Steve's phone rang. "Yeah Charlie, tell me you got something?"

"I do, Commander, but you're not going to like it. Danny's drink contained Ethylene Glycol, more commonly known as anti-freeze. Steve if it's not treated quickly it can lead to kidney failure and death. If Danny doesn't receive the right treatment, he's going to die," Charlie explained.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**Note: In answer to a few peoples questions. No Danny won't need all nine lives, but you'll understand why I chose the title in a few more chapters. Choosing a title is so hard. **

**Chapter Five.**

Steve saw Dr. Pearce returning to Danny's room. "Doc, we know what it was. It was Ethylene Glycol. Anti-freeze."

Her eyes widened. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yes, the lab confirmed it."

"Sally, I need an emergency room now," she called down the hall. "And call ICU, we're gonna need a bed."

"Yes Dr. Pearce, emergency room one is free," Sally replied, picking up the phone.

Dr. Pearce entered Danny's room, spoke to the nurse and then quickly, they both grabbed the gurney and started pushing it out of the room towards the emergency room where there was better monitoring equipment.

Danny was unsure what was happening. One minute he had been relaxing, grateful that the sickness had started to settle, the next he was being hurtled down the corridor. "Steve?" he called out as he was pushed past his teammates.

Steve could see the terror in Danny's eyes, and he was pretty sure it reflected in his own eyes too.

"Right here, buddy," he answered, grabbing hold of Danny's arm and walking alongside the gurney into the emergency room. "We found out what was in the drink, so Docs just moving you to monitor you better."

"Sir, you can't be in here," the nurse explained.

"It's fine. He can stay," Dr. Pearce spoke up. "But the rest of the team needs to stay outside."

Steve nodded and gave Chin and Kono an apologetic look as they were ushered out of the room.

Dr. Pearce then walked away and picked up the phone, while the nurse, who introduced herself to Steve as Elsie, quickly hooked Danny up to a cardiac monitor and wrapped the blood pressure cuff around Danny's arm. A grey clip was positioned on Danny's finger to monitor his oxygen levels and the room suddenly exploded with the beeps from the monitors.

"What was it?" Danny asked. "Is it bad?"

"Anti-freeze," Steve explained. "But don't worry, Docs on it."

Returning to Danny's side, Dr. Pearce looked at Danny's chart, then asked Elsie to set up another IV and push more fluids.

"Ok, Danny. Anti-freeze poisoning can be very serious if not treated right, so we are going to go ahead and start the treatment straight away," she explained.

Danny nodded and waited for her to continue. "I just spoke with out hospital pharmacy and unfortunately we don't stock any of the antidote."

"What?" Steve asked, outraged that Danny wouldn't be able to get the proper treatment to save his life.

"Fomepizole is the usual drug of choice to treat this, but it's extremely expensive. So the hospital doesn't stock it," she explained.

"Why the hell not," Steve yelled.

"Steve it's not her fault, will you calm down and let her explain," Danny said, anxious to hear what the plan was now.

"This is Hawaii, Commander, we don't have a massive call for anti-freeze, so don't see many poisonings. There is, however, another antidote so we are going to use that. It's just more complicated," she explained.

"See, she has a plan," Danny scolded. "So what's this more complicated treatment?"

"Ethanol," She replied. "We give it IV and it will stop the breakdown of the poison, preventing any damage."

"Let me get this straight," Danny said. "You want to get me drunk to save my life?" Dr. Pearce nodded. "What are we waiting for? Let's get this party started."

Steve stifled a small laugh. He was surprised how well Danny was taking this. "You know it was alcohol that got you into trouble in the first place, right?" Danny nodded.

"Well it's not quite as simple as getting you drunk, Danny. We need to monitor your bloods very carefully, which is why we are going to move you to intensive care. Especially after the shock you received this weekend. I want your heart carefully monitored.

"I thought you said that hadn't left any damage?" Steve asked concerned.

"It didn't, but I want to err on the side of caution. Now Danny, there's more," Dr. Pearce stated.

"Why do I get the feeling I won't like this bit," Danny groaned.

"Because you probably won't," Dr. Pearce answered. "The ethanol prevents the breakdown but it doesn't remove the ethylene. We need to do that via dialysis. We'll place a line in your groin and connect you to the dialysis machine, which will clean your blood and remove the poison. Hopefully by morning the ethylene should be out of your system. We're lucky we caught this early, Danny."

Danny now looked scared, the thought of having his blood run through a machine made him anxious and the worst thing was, he had no choice and no control over the situation.

Steve sensed the anxiety in his best friend and placed his hand reassuringly on his shoulder. "Can I stay with him?"

"Of course." Dr. Pearce reassured.

Elsie came over carrying a bag of fluid and connected it to Danny's newly acquired IV.

"Cheers," Danny said, rolling his eyes at the unintended pun.

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

Danny was transferred to the ICU. Steve was made to wait with Chin and Kono while they inserted the line and commenced the dialysis. Then all three were allowed in to see Danny.

"So, are you planning on working your way through all the specialty units in this hospital?" Kono asked moving over to the bed. "CCU at the weekend, now ICU. Seriously, if you have a thing for Dr. Pearce you should just ask her out."

Danny laughed. "Let's hope not, and I don't have a thing for my Doctor. I'm in a relationship."

"How you feeling?" Steve asked.

"Honestly, not too bad. A little drunk actually, and this machine is a bit scary. But the upside is they can take the hourly bloods from the machine, instead of turning me into a pin cushion," he said, pointing to the dialysis machine.

They could all see Danny's blood circulating around the machine, cleaning his blood and removing the poison.

"Yeah, but it's better than the alternative," Steve said. "The main thing is you're going to be fine, and we're gonna find out who the hell was behind this. I spoke to Charlie while we were waiting to come in. He is going to test all the other beers, but said it might take some time. He's snowed under."

"I'll chase up the delivery company, see if we can trace who sent the hamper," Kono said.

"The question is, were they targeting Danny or all of us? The gang leader from this afternoon did threaten to get us back," Chin questioned.

"For now we keep our options open, chase all leads. We'll have a better idea once the results come back from Charlie. They might have randomly spiked some of the drinks and Danny just got unlucky."

"Story of my life," Danny sighed.

"Ok, you two go look into it. I'll stay here with Danny," Steve ordered.

"Be careful guys," Danny called after them as they left. Steve settled down for a long night in a hospital chair.

Danny looked over to the machine and watched his blood being forced around by the pump, trying to ignore his growing headache. Sitting himself up a little, he was suddenly hit by a wave of dizziness and was forced to lay back down. He felt a sudden flush of heat rise up his face and then sensed Steve's presence hovering right by his side.

Steve had seen Danny sit forward and watched as the colour drained from his face. He'd hit the emergency button before Danny had even managed to lay back down. Standing as close to his friend as possible, he asked if he was okay, but got no response. All he saw was Danny's eyes roll back into his head as the Nurses came running in.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

**Note: Sorry couldn't help but throw in the little extra whump at the end of the last chapter. It doesnt count as a life. Lol.**

**Posting a bit earlier as i have a few errands to run today. But I'm guessing you won't mind. **

**Chapter Six.**

Danny's Nurse raced over to his side and hit the machine to start obtaining a blood pressure reading. Turning to the dialysis machine, she opened up the saline attached to it.

"What's happening? Is he ok?" Steve asked, his heart racing.

"He's fine, don't worry, it can happen on this machine. His blood pressure has just dropped because of the blood outside of his body. I'm giving him saline and it will improve," she reassured. She looked not the least bit stressed, which went some way to calming Steve's nerves.

Sure enough, Danny suddenly opened his eyes, searching Steve out. The nurse explained to Danny what had happened and advised him to stay laying down to help his low blood pressure. Once the nurse was happy that Danny had improved, she left the room again.

"Are you trying to send me to an early grave?" Steve asked. "Between the electric shock and that little episode, I think you just shaved two years off my life."

"Sorry," Danny replied looking sheepish.

"Just don't do it again," Steve replied, sinking back down into his chair.

Steve and Danny both had a restless night. The nursing staff kept coming in and drawing blood for testing and checking Danny's vitals. Danny found it hard to get comfy with the line in his groin and if he moved too much it caused the machine to alarm. They continued to push IV fluids which left him needing the bathroom more often than not, and having to face the embarrassment of peeing in a bottle so they could measure it and also because he was unable to get out of bed while connected to the machine.

Dr. Pearce entered the room in the morning. "Good news, Danny. Your ethylene levels are down to a safe level and your latest blood results show no sign of kidney damage."

"That's great," Steve smiled. "So what now?"

"Now, we get you off this machine Danny and move you to a normal room. I want to keep you another day to monitor your bloodwork and keep the IV fluids going. But all being well, you should be fine to go home in the morning. Another lucky escape for you."

"Thanks Dr. Pearce," Danny said rubbing his forehead.

"Headache?" she asked.

Danny nodded. "Danny has the hang over from hell I think," Steve joked. "Getting drunk doesn't sound like such a cool idea now does it Danno?"

Danny didn't reply, but Steve noticed that he had changed to rubbing his temple with his middle finger instead. "He's a bad drunk," Steve informed Dr. Pearce who just laughed and left the room, to write up some pain meds.

It didn't take long for the nurses to come in with some pain killers and disconnect Danny from the machine. Steve left the room while they did so and sent a quick text to Chin and Kono letting them know what room Danny was going to. An hour later, Danny was curled up in a ball in his new room, the lights dimmed and was snoring softly.

Chin and Kono quietly entered the room. "How is he?" Kono whispered.

"Sleeping off the mother of all hangovers," Steve replied. "His blood results are all normal and he can come home tomorrow."

"Thank God," Chin sighed.

"Yeah, he was lucky he got such quick treatment," Steve whispered. "Did you manage to find anything out?"

"I chased up the delivery guy. He worked for a legit company. They said a guy in a suit paid cash for the gift basket to be delivered. Said he worked for the Governor, but his description doesn't fit any of the Governor's staff, and we know he didn't send it," Kono explained.

"But we did get a description?" Steve asked.

"Tall, dark hair. Mainlander. Not much to go on and they don't have CCTV. Could be anyone," She finished.

"Damn, what about Charlie? Have we heard from him?" Steve asked Chin.

"Two bottles tested negative for any poison, but then his machine broke. He has to wait 'til Monday for a new part so we won't know 'til then if any more bottles were spiked."

"So we don't have anything to go on," Steve said shaking his head. "Can you two go speak with the gang from yesterday, see if they were behind it? I'm gonna stay here with Danny today. Watch your backs, we still work on the assumption that whoever did this were after us all."

Danny woke an hour later and was disappointed to have missed Chin and Kono. Steve filled him in on the little they knew so far. Danny's head was now feeling much better thanks to the pain killers, sleep and IV fluids, so he and Steve spent time hashing out possible suspects.

Amber had called and Danny once again had to convince her not to return to the island. Truth be told he preferred her out of the way. If someone was out to hurt him, it was better she was out of harm's way. He was also grateful that he had allowed Rachel to take Grace away for two weeks.

Later that afternoon Chin and Kono returned. All members of the gang they had arrested had denied sending the basket and they were inclined to agree with them. It didn't seem their style. But this left them with zero suspects and no leads. They were all mad as hell, each wanting someone to blame for what Danny had gone through.

Dr. Pearce discharged Danny the next day and they all gathered at Steve's. The team once again insisting that Danny take it easy. Danny was happy to oblige as his groin was sore from the line used for dialysis and he still felt tired. But he stubbornly informed them that he would be returning to work on the Monday, even if it was just desk duty.

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

Monday they all returned to work. Steve, Chin and Kono attended a possible murder case, which kept them out of the office for most of the day. Danny was left completing more audits and working on procedural documents that he had been putting off for a while.

Deciding he was in need of a break, Danny headed out to the main area to grab a coffee when the phone rang. It was HPD requesting some evidence for a case they had closed the week before. Danny headed to their evidence safe and grabbed the bag and went to head out the door.

Steve, Chin and Kono arrived back at the office just as he was leaving. "Where are you heading off to?" Steve enquired.

"HPD. They want the evidence from the Jacobs case," Danny said waving the bag in the air.

"Hang on a sec and I'll come with you," Steve said catching hold of Danny's arm and stopping him from leaving.

"I can manage on my own. It's just one little bag. Not exactly straining myself," Danny ranted.

"I know, but I don't think you should be walking around alone," Steve replied, hoping Danny wouldn't take it the wrong way.

"I can take care of myself Steven. I'll be twenty minutes, then you can bring me up to speed with the case," Danny said pulling his arm away.

"Case is closed," Kono said patting Danny on the back, before heading for the coffee machine. "Boyfriend confessed as soon as we knocked on the door."

"Well there you go, you all have reports to write," Danny explained before heading out the door. He exited HQ and headed straight to the Camaro. Opening the door, he slid in to the driver's seat and put the keys in the ignition. Repositioning the mirrors, he then bent down to slid the seat forward so he could reach the gas pedal better as it was all the way back from Steve being behind the wheel. As he did so, the glass shattered in the window of the driver's door and pain erupted at the side of Danny's head.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

**Note: Thanks for all the great reviews, keep them coming would really like to reach 100. **

**Chapter Seven.**

Danny realised that a bullet had just narrowly missed his head, clipping only his ear. Ducking down low, he pulled out his gun waiting for more shots to come.

Steve, Chin and Kono had all been around the smart table reviewing the evidence against the boyfriend in their latest case when they heard the crack of a gunshot. Immediately running to the stairs, they made it to the parking lot in record time. Looking across at the Camaro, they could see the shattered glass on the ground but no sign of Danny.

Assessing the area, there was no sign of a gun man so Steve decided to take a chance and ran across the parking lot. Reaching the car, he flung open the door, only to be met by a very angry Danny. "Are you crazy? Someone just tried to shoot me and you're running around in the open. Take cover you idiot."

"There's no sign of anyone out here, Danny," Steve informed him, trying to get a better look at Danny's head. Blood covered the left hand side of his head and ran down his neck, staining his shirt collar.

"I found a spent bullet casing over by the tree at the end of the car park," Kono said running over to the car. "Looks like the shooter took off." She gasped when she saw Danny's head. "I'll call an ambulance."

"No, I'm fine. I don't need an ambulance," Danny replied.

"Danny, you just got shot in the head," Steve yelled. "Call the ambulance, Kono."

"No, don't," Danny yelled back. "I got shot in the ear, not the head." Getting out of the car Danny put his hand to his ear and winced.

Chin came running over after searching the rest of the car park. "No sign of anyone else," he said, then did a double take at Danny, seeing all the blood. "Jeez, Danny. Should you be standing brah?"

"I'm fine," Danny reassured.

Marching to the trunk of the Camaro, Steve reached inside and pulled out a first aid kit. Moving back to Danny, he forced him to lean against the hood of the car. Pulling out some gauze, he put pressure against Danny's ear to stop the bleeding. Danny sucked in a breath as he did so.

"Danny, did you see anything? See the shooter?" Kono asked.

"No. I didn't see anything. I bent down to move the car seat forward and the next thing I know, a bullet had just missed me," Danny explained. Looking at Steve he saw a slight lip curl. "What? You're smiling at me nearly getting my head blown off? What a great friend you are."

"No, Danny, I'm sorry. I was amused by the fact that your lack of height just saved your life," Steve explained.

"Oh, so now you're laughing at the short guy," Danny said batting Steve's hand away from his ear.

"Pack it in Danny," Steve said, pushing Danny's hand away so he could get to Danny's ear again. "I'm just glad you're ok. Keep taking your anger out on me and I'll shoot you in the head myself."

"Jeez, you two really do sound like an old married couple," Kono said. "Will he live? What's the damage?"

Steve closely examined Danny's ear. "The bullets ripped your ear, Danny. It's gonna need stitches."

"Great," Danny sulked.

"Ok Chin. I'll drive Danny to the hospital to get this sorted," he said, pointing to Danny's ear. "Can you get CSU down here? Process the scene. Kono check the CCTV see if we can get something. We need to work out if this was a pop at Danny or 5-0."

"On it," Both Chin and Kono said.

Steve taped some gauze over Danny's ear then led him to the Silverado.

"You ok?" He asked a now quiet Danny.

"Yeah, just...you know. That was a bit too close. I'm having a crap week."

"I hear you buddy," Steve replied.

Danny turned and gave Steve the stink eye. "What?" Steve asked. "Oh sorry, bad choice of words," he replied, remembering Danny's damaged ear.

At the hospital, Danny was lucky to not have to wait too long. Dr. Pearce had spotted them in the waiting room and called them straight through.

"Really Danny, three trips in less than two weeks it not good. Do I have to get you a season ticket?" she joked while examining his ear. "At least this one isn't life threatening. But you do realise this is close shave number three? You're not a cat, you don't have nine lives."

"I know. Trust me it's not through choice," Danny responded.

"Well this should be easy enough to stitch up. You'll need a course of antibiotics though because it involves the cartilage," she said moving to a cupboard and retrieving the supplies she would need to repair the ear. "Lay down and we'll get started."

She worked expertly to inject the lignocaine to numb Danny's ear, then stitched it back together. "You should be lucky. I don't think it will leave a bad scar, probably won't even be able to notice it," she said writing a prescription for some antibiotics and mild pain killers.

"So it won't ruin his boyish good looks then doc?" Steve joked.

"Not one bit. He will be as handsome as ever." Then she blushed, realising what she had just said.

Danny flushed a little red himself. "Thanks for patching me up, Dr. Pearce."

"No problem," she said, recovering from her embarrassment. "Just try to take care. See if you can survive a week without a repeat visit."

Steve and Danny returned to headquarters, where Chin and Kono were waiting for them. Kono forced Danny to sit down while she fetched him a cup of coffee. She was worried that Danny looked tired. After the week he had already had this was the last thing he needed.

Chin was the first to fill them in. "So CSU processed the scene. They didn't find anything other than the bullet casing Kono found. It was a .270 Winchester used in a long range riffle. You're lucky it only clipped you brah. No way would you have survived that hitting you. It's typically used on big game. They recovered the bullet, it was embedded in the passenger seat."

Danny sipped his coffee, trying to absorb the information. "Did you get anything on the CCTV?" Steve asked Kono.

"Not enough for an ID," she replied. "It showed the shooter waiting around headquarters, then taking position and shooting at Danny. But once he took his shot, he fled the scene."

"And you couldn't ID him?" Danny clarified.

"No, sorry. He was wearing a baseball hat and sunglasses. We have an estimated height and the fact that he was causation. But that's it."

"So do we think he was after Danny specifically, or was he just after one of us? Were they after the evidence Danny was taking to HPD?" Steve questioned.

"What happened to that?" Danny asked, worried as he had left it on the passenger seat in all the chaos.

"Don't worry. HPD has it now," Chin reassured. "I personally don't think this was linked to our case. I think they were after Danny."

"Why would they be after me?" Danny asked.

"I don't know brah. But we were sent a fake drinks basket and the drink you were most likely to drink was the only one poisoned. Now this? It's too much of a coincidence."

"Wait, only one of the drinks was poisoned? When did we find that out?" Steve asked.

"While you were at the hospital. Fong called. He told me the test results on all the stuff had come back and only the Hudson Pale Ale contained the poison."

"Shit," Danny whisper, realising Chin was right. Danny was the only one familiar with the brand of ale since it haled from New Jersey. He had been drawn to it out of nostalgia.

"After finding that out, I sent someone to check out the fuse box at your house, Danny."

"And?" Danny asked, already fearing he knew the answer.

"It had been tampered with. Someone messed up the electrics so you would come check on the box and receive a massive shock," Chin explained.

"Ok, so we now work on the theory that someone is targeting Danny. Who the hell did you piss off, Danny?" Steve asked turning to Danny.

Danny shrugged. "I don't know. I can't think of anyone who would be mad at me personally. 5-0 as a group, sure, but not just me."

"What about someone from Jersey?" Kono asked. "I should check out where Peterson is now."

"He's still in jail. He was just moved to San Diego," Danny replied, all three of his colleagues weren't surprised that Danny knew exactly where Peterson was.

"Doesn't mean he couldn't have arranged it though," Chin said.

"Look into it guys," Steve ordered. "You're staying with me for however long it takes to sort this. No arguments. And if you're outside, you wear a vest. What about Grace?"

"She's still in Vegas for the rest of this week," Danny answered, once again relieved he had consented to her spending the time there.

"Good, she should be okay there until we can work out who is behind all this," Steve replied.

TBC

**No cliff hanger this time!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Note. Glad I'm keeping everyone's attention. Poor Danny has been through enough now though... Right?... Oh wait, I'm a member of the DWOCD club so perhaps not. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own H50**

**Chapter Eight.**

Steve watched Danny put down his office phone and pinch the bridge of his nose. His eyes were screwed up in pain. Danny obviously had a headache. Not at all surprising after the close call with a bullet.

After realising that Danny was the target of all the attacks, each team member had gone to their offices to make phone calls.

Danny had just hung up after speaking with an old colleague back in Jersey to see if he had heard of any possible suspect that could be out for revenge on him.

Steve entered Danny's office and passed him the bottle of painkillers Dr. Pearce had prescribed. "Did he know anything?"

Taking the pills, Danny shook his head. "No. He hasn't heard of anyone being released from jail recently that might have a grudge. Said he would keep his ear to the ground."

Kono and Chin also entered the office. "I just spoke with the San Diego jail. Peterson is there all right, but he hasn't made any calls or had any visits since he got there three months ago. He doesn't sound like a likely suspect," Kono explained.

"I checked in with Kamekona. He said he would ask around, see if anyone has heard anything about a grudge against Danny," Chin added.

"Thanks guys," Danny said, rubbing his hand over his face. He had no clue who wanted him dead so badly.

"Ok, I think it's time you went back to my house. Try and get some rest, Danny," Steve said.

"No, I'm fine," Danny sighed.

"Really? So you don't have a monster headache? You're not dog tired? Because honestly man, you look like hell," Steve replied, noting Danny's pale skin and dark areas under his eyes.

"Ok, I don't feel fantastic," Danny admitted.

"Duke is sending over some officers. They'll follow you home and stay outside the house," Steve informed him.

Danny looked up shocked. "You're putting a protection detail on me? You don't think I can handle myself?"

"You know I trust you to handle yourself," Steve said sternly. "But the added protection means you can relax a bit, get some rest. At least go home and have a shower, clean up a bit."

Danny looked at his three team members and saw their concern for his health. "Ok, fine. But what are you going to do?"

"We need to finish off the paperwork on the murder case from this morning. Then we start trawling through traffic cams, see if we can pick up our guy from this afternoon in the nearby area."

"You'll call me if you find anything?" Danny asked, as he started to shut his computer down.

"Of course," Steve said walking over to Danny's closet in the corner of his office and pulling out his spare vest. "Wear it," he ordered, passing the vest to Danny, who took the vest and put in on, then checked his gun. When the two HPD Officers arrived, Danny finally headed back to Steve's while the others hurried to clear their paperwork so they could focus on who was behind the attacks on Danny.

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

Danny arrived back at Steve's and locked the door behind him. Shrugging off the heavy vest he headed straight upstairs to the guest bedroom where he had been staying the past week. Grabbing a clean t-shirt and some sweats, he headed straight to the bathroom. Ever since Steve had mentioned a shower he couldn't wait to get the remaining blood out of his hair. It had dried hard now and was pulling if he turned his head a certain way.

Starting the shower, he stripped off his clothes and stepped under the warm water. He carefully cleaned the blood out of his hair, making sure he didn't knock his ear which was rather sore. He lathered up a sponge and washed himself down, then stood enjoying the relief the warm water had to his aching muscles. He was grateful Steve wasn't home as this definitely didn't fit the three minute shower rule. Allowing his shoulders to relax, he tipped his head back allowing the water to cover his face and run down his muscular body, washing the last of the soap suds away.

Lost in his thoughts, he was suddenly startled by the sound of glass breaking downstairs. Knowing Steve would have called before heading home and was planning on being at the office for at least a few more hours, Danny immediately went on high alert.

He slipped out if the shower, leaving it running incase whoever was in the house could hear it. He didn't want to alert them to his awareness of their presence. He grabbed the t-shirt and sweats, not bothering to dry himself, so he could dress faster. He then grabbed his gun from the sink unit where he had left it.

Checking the landing was clear, Danny slowly made his way to the stairs. Reaching the top, he peered over the banister trying to see if anyone was downstairs. A second later, he turned just in time to be able to block an attack from a man he had never seen before who came charging at him with a knife. He managed to grab the man's wrist, but the force of the attack sent them both flying down the stairs. Hitting the bottom step, Danny's gun flew out from his hand and across the floor. Both men quickly recovered, but Danny had lost his grip on the man and he made another charge at Danny who again managed to block the attack, but this time, the knife slashed through his left forearm leaving a three inch gash.

The man lunged again, and Danny once again grabbed his wrist. Locked in a battle of strength, Danny laid on his back, his attacker towering above him trying to force the knife into Danny's stomach. Turning his head to look for his gun, Danny saw it was just to his right. Taking a chance to grab it, his attacker was given a split second to overpower him and he plunged the knife into Danny's abdomen. Ignoring the searing fire in his belly Danny grabbed the gun and fired two shots into his attacker's chest sending him flying backwards.

Danny knew his shots had hit the mark and the man would not get back up. The pain in his stomach ramped up a gear causing black spots to encroach on his vision. He jumped as the front door was kicked in and the two HPD Officers stormed the house.

The Officers had heard the shots fired and immediately leapt into action radioing for back up and kicking the front door down. Entering the house, they were shocked to see one man dead with two bullet wounds centre mass and eyes holding a glassy stare. The Detective they had been assigned to protect lay on the floor, an ever growing pool of blood forming around him, and watched as his eyes slipped shut.

TBC

**so do you love me or hate me. Lol **


	9. Chapter 9

**Note: well most of you love the whump but hate me for the cliffies. Booking my place in WPP (writers protection programme) once again. **

**Chapter Nine.**

Chin was the first to finish his paperwork and had started searching through camera footage around the palace using the smart table. So far he had found the general direction the shooter took off in, but his face had been well hidden. So he widened his search checking cameras further away from the palace. He glanced up when he heard Steve's phone ring and then saw Steve charge out of his office.

"That was Duke, we need to go, now!" He shouted. Pushing the office doors open and racing down the stairs. Whatever the call was about, it was obviously serious.

"Steve what's going on?" Kono asked hot in his heels. Chin was right behind her.

"Danny's protective detail just radioed in shots fired," Steve filled them in.

Climbing into their cars, they raced out of the parking lot, tires screeching. Minutes later they were arriving at Steve's house. There were several squad cars parked outside alongside an ambulance. Holding out their badges for the HPD Officers to see, they ran into the house, where Steve stopped dead in his tracks, causing Chin and Kono to run into his back.

Danny had already been moved onto a gurney and the medics were working quickly to stabilise him. A cardiac monitor was attached to the side of the gurney, leads running to Danny's chest. An oxygen mask covered most of his face, which was ashen in colour. Danny's breathing was quick and shallow, his body fighting against shock. The Medics already had one line running in fluids, but a second was currently being placed.

Steve's eyes roamed his partner's body and widened in shock as they settled on Danny's abdomen. A large hunting knife protruded from it, embedded in Danny's stomach up to the hilt. A medic was packing gauze around the knife and securing it so it wouldn't move and risk causing further damage.

Recovering his senses, Steve moved into the room and saw the body of Danny's attacker. Looking around he saw the two HPD Officers that had been assigned to Danny and stalked towards them. "What the hell happened? Where the hell were you?" He yelled.

"We were outside Sir. We heard the shots and came to help. But Detective Williams was already down and this guy dead," one officer replied, pointing to the body at Steve's feet.

"The back window is broken, Sir," the other Officer offered. "He must have broken in that way."

Chin had moved over to the dead body and stared at the guys face. "I don't recognise this guy, do you?"

Steve and Kono both looked at him and shook their heads. "Get Max out here. I want an ID on this guy, I want to know who the hell he is and what connection he has to Danny," Steve ordered, moving over to his partner's side. The Medics had done all they could for now and were starting to move Danny out of the house to the ambulance. "How's he doing?" Steve asked.

"His vitals are precarious. He needs to go straight to surgery to remove this knife and repair the damage. Looks like it could have hit his liver," the older of the two medics explained.

Steve nodded, then said, "I'm coming with you."

"Sir, we don't have much room," the medic replied as they reached the ambulance.

"I don't care, I'm coming. This is the fourth attempt on his life in two weeks. We don't know who's behind it, so there might be more than just this one guy. He is not leaving my sight," Steve barked.

The medic, understanding Steve's concern, nodded and allowed him to enter the ambulance.

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

Dr. Pearce was waiting for them at the hospital. As they unloaded Danny, she looked at Steve and shouted, "Three hours! He made it three hours before ending back here. Did he not listen to what I said?" She was obviously very mad and very concerned as the Medics relayed information to her.

"I don't think he really had a say in it Doc. He didn't exactly choose for someone to keep trying to kill him," Steve retorted.

She nodded, then looking at the knife, informed her staff, "Okay, straight to surgery. OR three is waiting for us. Steve you need to wait here."

"No way, Doc. I'm now officially his protection detail. I'll wait outside the OR, and I only want people in there that you trust," Steve instructed.

"Fine," Dr. Pearce conceded. She knew Steve well enough now to know not to argue with him when it came to his protectiveness of his partner.

They entered the OR and Steve sank down into a chair outside, his head resting in his hands.

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

Three hours later he was joined by the rest of the team. Shaking his head when asked if there was any news on Danny he looked up at them, "Please tell me you know who that guy was and that this is all over."

"His prints weren't in the system, so Max ran his face against driver's license pictures. We got a hit," Chin explained, passing Steve his tablet with the guys information on it. "John Beckett. Squeaky clean up until now. Worked at Ohau Country Club. Has a license for a shot gun which he used for hunting. It matches the one used to shoot at Danny this afternoon. He also fits the description of our shooter. Looks like he went for a second attempt when he realised he missed Danny."

"What's the connection to Danny?" Steve asked trying to piece everything together.

"We can't find one," Kono replied shaking her head.

"Isn't that the club were Grace had tennis lessons?" Steve questioned.

"I'm not sure, but I can look into it. That still doesn't give us much to go on. Why would he want Danny dead?" Kono said taking a seat next to Steve.

"Maybe Danny upset him with one of his country club rants," Steve joked. "Listen, it still doesn't sound like we have much to go on. Why don't you two head home and get some rest. Then we can look at it with fresh eyes in the morning."

Chin and Kono both started to argue, but were stopped when a nurse came running out of the OR. She ran down the corridor to a fridge and typing in a code, pulled out several bags of blood before racing back into the OR. Alarms could be heard blaring as she re-entered the room, and all three looked at each other. It was obvious Danny was in trouble.

"We're not going anywhere," Chin stated leaving no room for arguments. "Not until Danny is out of danger."

Steve nodded, secretly glad of the company. Danny had been through so much this past week. He wondered if his body would have the strength to fight and make it through this.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

**Note: woo hoo. Over 100 reviews. Thanks guys.**

**Working the late shift today so thought I'd post before work. **

**Chapter Ten.**

They all sat waiting, desperate for good news. The alarms had stopped 10 minutes earlier and they didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. Suddenly the nurse from earlier popped her head out and gave them the thumbs up signal before retreating back into the room. All three collapsed back into their chairs. Danny was holding his own for now.

The next three hours passed with nervous pacing and trips to the coffee machine. The increasing amount of time that Danny was in surgery was testament to how serious the stab wound had been. Finally the doors opened and a bed was pushed out containing Danny.

His friends jumped up and watched as Danny was pushed past them. He looked lost in the bed and was as pale as the sheets. There seemed to be wires and tubes everywhere. The most obvious being the tube that ran down Danny's throat, the other end parting his lips slightly and was connected to a ventilator.

Dr. Pearce followed the bed out and seeing the three worried friends approached them. "Ok, guys. We're moving him to the ICU. Walk with me and I'll fill you in. I'm guessing he's still under close guard, and you're it."

All three nodded, unable to find any words.

"The knife hit his liver which caused a lot of bleeding. I'm not gonna lie as I'm sure you heard. He gave us a bit of a scare there for a while, but he's stable now. We were able to remove the knife and repair the damage."

"So he's gonna be ok?" Steve dared to ask.

Dr. Pearce smiled. "Consider this life number four gone." Chin and Kono looked confused so Steve explained.

"Dr. Pearce thinks Danny's a cat with nine lives."

Understanding the analogy, Chin clarified, "So, he is going to be okay?"

"He has quite a recovery ahead of him. But yes, he should recover fully. At the moment his body is very weak, so I'm planning to keep him sedated and on the ventilator for at least the next few hours." Reaching the ICU she stopped them at the door to the room Danny had occupied the previous week. "Give us a few minutes to get him settled," she instructed.

Steve looked at his watch then did the math in his head. "Guys can you stay here. I need to go make some calls."

"Sure," they both replied.

"Thanks. I need to call Amber and Rachel, fill them in," Steve explained.

They watched as Steve left the unit, grateful it was not them having to make those calls. The sun was just starting to rise and they knew it was going to be a long day. They didn't have much to work with to find out why this guy had tried to kill Danny and if he was working alone.

Once the nurses had finished settling Danny, they allowed them in to sit with him. Each took up a chair at opposite sides of the bed and sat quietly listening the beeps from the machines and the hiss and whooshing noises from the ventilator.

Steve returned and stood at the foot of the bed staring at his partner. Seeing him so still was just plain wrong.

"How did they take it?" Chin asked.

"Amber wouldn't take no for an answer this time. She's flying back as soon as she can get a flight. Rachel seemed concerned, said she would fill Grace in," Steve answered. "She confirmed that Grace did have lessons at the club, but said she didn't know Beckett. I also called Duke and asked him to send some more Officers over to stand guard at the ICU entrance."

Pulling over another chair Steve sat down and placed his hand on Danny's lower leg. The small amount of contact reminding him that Danny was still with them. "What now guys?"

"Kono and I will go back to the office soon and start looking into Beckett's background more. Run his financials. See if we can turn something up," Chin suggested.

"Thanks guys. I really want to help, but..."

"Your place is here," Kono finished off. "Danny needs you here. When they wake him up, he's gonna need you here even more."

Steve smiled, grateful that he had such a good team that were willing to pick up the bulk of the work so he could support his partner, his best friend.

They all settled down and allowed themselves to doze, lulled by the sound of the machines helping to keep their friend alive. None of them had gotten any sleep overnight and were exhausted.

A few hours later Chin and Kono slipped out to return to the office while Dr. Pearce returned to check on Danny.

"Don't you ever leave this place?" Steve asked.

"I'm on a double shift," she smiled, checking Danny's chart and latest results. Looking over at Danny's nurse she asked, "Can we stop the sedation now? His vitals are looking good, I'd like to get him off the vent."

"Already?" Steve asked shocked. "It's only been six hours since he came out of surgery."

"And he's making really good progress. He's been breathing for himself for the past hour. The machine is just helping," She explained.

"He is?" Steve asked confused as to when things had changed.

"You were all asleep when we changed the settings," She smiled. "It shouldn't take long for him to wake up. I'm going to remove the tube now and get him on an oxygen mask instead."

Soon, Danny was off the ventilator and breathing fully for himself. Steve had moved closer to the bed waiting for his friend to wake up while Dr. Pearce hovered in the back ground. A small twitch of Danny's fingers brought him to attention. "Danny! Open your eyes buddy. You're in the hospital."

Recognising Steve's voice, Danny fought through the fogginess. He became aware of a pain in his stomach and the fact that his throat felt like he had swallowed a razor blade. His limbs felt heavy and he felt so tired. Hearing the word hospital, it all suddenly came flooding back to him, the shooting and then the attack. His eyes flew open as he started to panic. Steve instantly recognised the agitation in his partner. "Don't you dare freak out. Take nice, easy breaths. You're safe and doing well. You understand?"

Danny nodded and attempted to speak, but nothing came, his throat was so dry. Steve realised this and offered him some ice chips. "Thanks," he managed to force out, then winced at the pain it caused, so Steve helped him with more ice.

"Danny you've had a tube down your throat for a while now, which is why it feels so sore. Just take it easy and rest. The surgery went really well and you'll be fine," Dr. Pearce explained. She then swapped the oxygen mask over to a nasal cannula to make him more comfortable before leaving the room.

Steve watched Danny. His eyes were closed and Steve was unsure whether Danny had fallen back asleep.

"Who was he?" Danny suddenly asked, prying his eyes open.

"His name was John Beckett. Did you know him?"

Danny thought for a second, mad at himself that his brain was only working half speed. "I didn't recognise him. The name isn't familiar either."

"He worked at the club where Grace took tennis lessons," Steve added, then instantly regretted it as he heard the heart monitor speed up. "Hey relax. Grace is safe and in Vegas. As far as we know it's just a coincidence."

Danny nodded and took a few deep breaths. "Who the hell was he Steve? And why did he want me dead?"

"I don't know buddy, but Chin and Kono are working on finding out," Steve comforted.

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

Chin and Kono had gone back to the palace and immediately started digging through information on Beckett. Kono had accessed his bank accounts and found that he had been in a lot of debt. But $50,000 had been deposited into his account only two days ago. "Chin, look at this. What does this say to you?"

"It has 'hit' written all over it," Chin stated. "That would explain why we can't link this guy to Danny. Someone paid him to kill Danny, but who?"

"I'll try and trace it, give me a sec," Kono said, tapping at the smart table. Both their eyes widened as they finally saw where the money had come from.

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

**Note: once again thanks for all the reviews. I'm so glad you are enjoying this story. **

Chapter Eleven.

Steve sat watching Danny as he slept. He knew it was a bit creepy, but he had nearly lost his best friend four times in the past week and he needed to keep reminding himself that Danny was okay. Well, okay was a bit strong, but he was alive. He was snapped out of his thoughts by a soft tap at the door. Looking up he saw an HPD officer and quickly stood and walked over to him.

"What is it? Is everything ok?" he asked.

"Sir, Detective Williams has some visitors. His ex-wife and her husband have brought his daughter to visit."

"That's not possible, they're in Vegas," Steve said going on high alert. "Stay here," he ordered and left to investigate.

Exiting the ICU he was almost bowled over by Grace. "Uncle Steve," she said hugging him. "How's Danno?"

"What are you doing here? I thought you were in Vegas," Steve asked, hugging Grace back.

"Grace was beside herself with worry and needed to see Danny," Rachel explained. "Stan managed to pull some strings and get us on the first flight out. We came straight here after dropping Charlie off at the sitters. Since you said Danny had killed the man who attacked him, we thought it would be safe to come."

Steve didn't want to worry them just yet by telling them that they still didn't know exactly who or why someone had targeted Danny. So he glossed over it. "Danno will be really happy to see you Gracie. He's really missed you."

"Is he ok? Can we see him?" Grace asked, the worry evident on her face.

"Danno is doing just fine," Steve reassured. "He's still pretty sick, but the doctors are really happy with him. I'll go check if you can see him."

Steve sought out Dr. Pearce and checked if it was okay for Grace to visit. She agreed, as long as her mother was with her.

Steve returned and led Rachel, Stan and Grace through to Danny's room, Stan lagging behind a bit, feeling uncomfortable about visiting his wife's ex-husband. Reaching Danny's door Steve stopped and turned to Grace. "Gracie, Danno has a lot of monitors around him that look a bit scary, but they're all there to help him."

She nodded and they entered the room. Steve stopped to dismiss the HPD officer and allowed him to return to his post at the entrance to the ICU.

Going over to the bed, Steve gently roused Danny. "Danny. You have a special visitor."

"Mmmm..." Danny replied.

"Danno!" Grace said, gently taking his hand. Danny's eyes shot open and he grasped Grace's hand.

"Monkey, what are you doing here?" Danny asked trying to fight the tears.

"I was worried about you, so step-Stan got us flights home," Grace said, also fighting the tears. She knew her dad was sick, but seeing him this ill was still a shock.

"Thanks," Danny said, acknowledging Stan who gave a small nod back.

Grace gave a small sob and clung to Danny's hand. Seeing his daughter so upset broke his heart. "Steve, can you help Grace up onto the bed. I need a hug," he asked.

"I don't think that's a good idea buddy," Steve replied apprehensively.

"It's the perfect idea, Steven. I need my daughter and she needs me. Now help her up so she doesn't hurt me," Danny demanded.

Steve reluctantly gave in and moved some of Danny's wires to the other side, creating more room for Grace. Then he helped Danny shift slightly to his left so Grace could snuggle into his right side. Moving had obviously been painful and exhausting for Danny, but having his daughter in his arms made it all worth it. And Grace looked so content cuddled into her father's side.

Steve offered Rachel and Stan each a chair and they sat making awkward small talk. Danny fell back to sleep almost straight away, and Grace lay content to listen to the conversation.

An hour later they were disturbed by Chin and Kono returning. Seeing the Edwards and Grace in the room, Chin asked Steve to step outside so they could talk, while Kono went straight to the bed and greeted Grace.

Returning ten minutes later Steve walked over and stood protectively by Danny's side. Chin gave Kono a nod and she bent down beside Grace. "Hey Grace, I'm going to get drinks for everyone. Can you give me a hand?"

Grace nodded and carefully climbed down off the bed. The movement woke Danny and he sleepily looked around the room. He instantly recognised his partner's stance and asked, "Steve, what's going on?"

"Grace is going to help Kono get coffee. Go back to sleep," Steve ordered. But Danny could tell by the tone of his voice that something was wrong and they were making an excuse to get Grace out of the room.

Danny waited 'til Kono had ushered Grace from the room, then tried again. "Steve, what is it? Something's wrong."

Turning to Danny, Steve locked eyes with him then said, "I'm sorry, Danny." Then gave Chin a nod.

Chin stepped forward in front of Stan. "Stan Edwards. You are under arrest for the attempted murder of Daniel Williams."

"What?" Danny asked shocked.

"This is preposterous," Rachel cried, as Steve also stepped forward. "Rachel Edwards, you are under arrest for conspiracy to the attempted murder of Daniel Williams."

Each of them placed hand cuffs around Stan and Rachel's wrists as Danny watched on in horror and started to hyperventilate.

"No. Rachel wouldn't do that to Grace," Danny blurted out, the alarms of his heart monitor screaming.

Steve swung around and grabbed Danny's hand as his nurse came running into the room and grabbed the oxygen mask, placing it over Danny's face. The two HPD Officers came in and led Stan and Rachel out.

"This is ridiculous. We haven't done anything," Rachel protested.

"Take them to the Palace, Chin. I'll be there as soon as I can. I want to interrogate them," Steve ordered, then turned to Danny who was doing his best to breathe steady as the nurse coached him. "Danny, Chin and Kono found evidence that Stan was behind all this. We don't have anything to link Rachel, but you understand we have to play it safe and take her in too?"

"Stan?" Danny asked between short, sharp breaths.

"Yes. I don't know why, but I intend to find out. Please try and calm down?" Steve begged as he saw the nurse ready a syringe.

"Grace?" Danny said breathlessly.

"Is safe with Kono," he reassured as the nurse injected the sedative into one of Danny's lines. Steve watched as Danny fought the effects and finally lost his battle, his eyes slipping closed. "Is he ok?"

The nurse checked Danny's vitals and nodded. "His blood pressure spiked but is settling now and his oxygen levels dropped, but are improving with the mask. I only gave him a mild sedative, so it shouldn't last long."

"Steve," came a voice at the door. "Is everything okay?"

Steve turned and saw Amber standing in the doorway. "Hey, how did you get here so fast?" Steve said, welcoming her.

"Honestly, I was already on my way back after the poisoning. I was between flights when you called me," she replied, moving to Danny's side and taking his hand, looking at all the equipment surrounding him. "Oh god. Is he ok?"

"He's lucky to have you. I'm glad he finally found someone to make him happy," Steve said. He then proceeded to fill Amber in on Danny's medical condition and what had happened with Stan and Rachel and Danny's reaction.

As he finished, Kono returned to the room with Grace who ran and hugged Amber.

"Where's Mom and Step-Stan?" she asked.

"They had to go out for a bit," Steve explained. "And I need to go too. But Kono and Amber will wait here with you."

"Ok," Grace innocently accepted.

"You should go too, Kono," Amber suggested. "Grace and I are okay here."

Kono smiled in thanks. She really wanted to be there to help with the interrogation too. She and Steve slipped out of the room leaving Danny in a medicated sleep and Grace and Amber catching up.

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

**Note: Glad I managed to surprise some of you while others worked it out. Thats it for the Danny whump I'm afraid. (The poor guy has been through enough... For this story) just the four lives used. The nine lives title comes from Dr. Pearce joke. He still has some recovery to come though. Poor Amber, some of you think she is suspicious. **

**Now it's time for Super SEAL to do his thing.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own H50 **

**Chapter Twelve.**

Chin escorted Stan and Rachel back to the Palace and sat them in separate rooms down in the basement. He waited outside and watched Steve and Kono stalk down the corridor.

"Where's Grace?" he asked, as he thought Kono would stay to look after her.

"Amber turned up after you left, so Grace and Danny are in good hands," Steve explained.

Chin smiled. "That's good. They're gonna need her."

Steve looked in through the window into Rachel's room. She sat on the chair in the middle of the room and looked furious. "She protested her innocence all the way here. She is really mad. I now have a new appreciation for Danny," Chin said.

"How do you want to play this?" Kono asked.

"We don't have anything on Rachel, right?" Steve asked.

"Nothing, but we haven't looked that deep yet," Chin confirmed.

"I want to speak to Stan first. Rachel's our bargaining chip for a full confession," Steve decided, taking hold of the door handle to Stan's room. He paused as Chin's hand rested on his shoulder.

"Steve. Just remember, he needs to be alive to serve jail time."

Stan looked up nervously as the three team members entered the room. He was handcuffed to the chair in the center of the room and felt vulnerable as the three angry team members spread out around the room.

"This is ridiculous. How could I have tried to kill Danny? I wasn't even on the island. We just flew back." Stan stated, trying to look calm. But the sweat on his brow and the slight tremor to his hands gave him away.

"You're right, you weren't on the island when Danny was shot at and then attacked. You paid Beckett to do it for you. But you were on the island when Danny's electrics were damaged and when he was poisoned. After two failed attempts, did you decided you needed help to get it right?" Steve asked.

"I ...I don't know what you're talking about," Stan stammered. "Just because I was on the island doesn't mean I did anything."

"You're right it doesn't. But we have you on traffic cameras driving in Danny's neighbourhood hours before he was almost killed by the faulty electrics," Kono said smugly.

"That doesn't mean anything," Stan said, trying to keep his breathing steady.

"Perhaps. But when you add it to the evidence of the money trail leading from your personal bank account to Beckett's, it certainly adds weight," Chin explained. "You did well, passing the money through two fake holding companies to try and cover your tracks. But you weren't good enough and we found the trail."

Stan's eyes widened as he realised there was no way he could get away with it. He then took a second to calm himself before looking Steve in the eye, "I think this is the bit where I ask for my lawyer."

Steve could feel his blood boil at the sudden cockiness of the man in front of him, but he kept his cool. "Fine. While we wait for him to arrive, we can speak to Rachel. Ask her why you both wanted Danny dead. Poor Charlie, both his parents headed to jail," He goaded.

"Rachel had nothing to do with this. Let her go," Stan yelled rattling the handcuffs.

"I can do that, but I need answers first," Steve said moving closer to Stan and looking him in the eyes. "Why? Why kill Danny? Why leave a little girl without her father?"

"She would have had me," Stan retorted.

The comment was like a red rag to a bull and Steve threw all his weight into punching Stan hard in the face. There was a sickening crack as Stan's nose burst open and blood sprayed everywhere. Punctuating every word with his finger pointed in Stan's face as the man choked and spat out his own blood, Steve screamed, "You are not fit to be her father. That little girl worships Danny and you were going to take him away from her. You were going to break her heart. I should beat you to a pulp for what you did to Danny, but for what you almost did to Grace, I want to snap your neck. The only way you're gonna stop that is to give me answers. Why? Why kill Danny?"

Stan spat more blood out on to the floor, then looked at Steve,"Because he was breaking up my marriage. His refusing to let Grace move with us tore Rachel in two spending her time split between here and Vegas. And every time she came here she would take my son with her. I was losing my family. With Danny gone, Grace could move to Vegas with us. I could get my family back."

Steve stepped back and took some calming breaths. Nodding to Chin and Kono to confirm he was back in control of his emotions. "So you decided to damage his electrics?"

"Grace had told us Danny's electrics were acting up. I thought if I made it look like an accident, I'd be in the clear," Stan explained.

"But we screwed that one up for you didn't we? So you tried to poison him," Kono summarised.

"I figured 5-0 had enough enemies that I'd be the last person you thought of," Stan said before spitting more blood from his mouth.

"You're right there," Chin spoke up. "What about Rachel? She and Grace were supposed to be with you in Vegas."

"They were in Vegas. I told them I had a business trip I couldn't get out of," Stan explained.

"So Rachel knew nothing? Had nothing to do with your plan?" Steve asked.

"No, Rachel would never have agreed to it if I had told her. Please you have to keep her out of this, she did nothing wrong. She didn't know," Stan begged.

"Okay," Steve bluntly replied. "So you flew back to Vegas and then paid Beckett to do your dirty work? You met him at the club?"

"Yes. He worked there and I knew he had a gambling problem, so I offered him money to finish the job," Stan said hanging his head.

"Then you had the gall to fly back and play the role of the concerned family member," Kono added, the anger evident in her voice.

Stan didn't say anything, just kept staring into his lap. The realisation that his world was crashing around him was obvious on his face.

The room fell silent and then Steve started to laugh. The deep, evil laughter echoed around the small concrete room. Stan slowly looked at Steve. "You wanted Danny gone so you could have your family back, and instead you've lost everything. You're gonna rot in a cell for the rest of your miserable life while Danny gets to watch his beautiful daughter grow up. Your wife will probably want nothing to do with you once we fill her in on what you did and you'll never see your son again. Come on guys. Let's leave HPD to deal with this trash. Danny and Grace need us."

All three left the room and the door slammed shut. Stan was left handcuffed to the chair and bleeding from his broken nose, his world crashing down around him.

TBC


	13. Chapter 13

**Note: thanks for all the reviews. One more chapter to go after this. I can't tell you how much I appreciate all the reviews and support with this story. **

**Chapter Thirteen.**

Taking a deep breath after exiting the room, Steve turned to Chin. "Get HPD to book him. We have enough to charge him. We can work on making the case more solid next week."

Chin nodded and pulled out his phone. "What about Rachel?" Kono asked.

"We don't have anything on her. I think Stan was telling the truth. She didn't know anything about his plan." Steve stepped towards the room where Rachel was being held. "Now we have to shatter her world."

When they entered the room, Rachel immediately jumped to her feet. Chin had offered her the courtesy of not handcuffing her to the chair, knowing that Danny would be furious if they treated his ex-wife like a low life criminal. "Steve, this is ridiculous. I don't know where you got this stupid idea from, but I want to leave now. My children need me. Where is Grace?"

"Grace is still at the hospital with Danny and his girlfriend, Amber. You can leave now and I'll take you back there. I'm sorry we had to do this to you, but we needed to be sure you weren't involved," Steve explained.

"Involved? In a plan to kill Danny? Where would you even get that idea from? Where is Stan?" She asked, still outraged.

"Rachel," Steve sighed. "We have enough evidence to charge Stan. I'm sorry, but he did try to kill Danny."

"What?" Rachel asked, "No, that can't be right. Why would Stan want Danny dead?"

"He confessed, Rachel. I'm sorry. He said he wanted Danny gone so Grace could move to Vegas. So you could all be a family."

Rachel's eyes opened wide with shock and she stepped back to flopp down into the chair. Struggling to process what she had just been told, she asked, "How could he do that? How could he do that to Grace? Danny is her world. Oh god..." and she broke down crying.

Steve stepped forward, unsure what to do to comfort the woman he barely knew. And if he was honest, part of him hated her for causing Danny so much heart ache over the custody of Grace. Placing his hand on her shoulder, he crouched down beside her. "Let me take you back to the hospital, so you can see Grace. I need to get back there for Danny. They are both gonna need answers."

Looking up and wiping tears from her eyes, she asked, "What do I tell her? How will she understand all this when I don't understand it myself?"

"Grace is a very wise young lady. We'll get through it all together. Come on, let's go," Steve said, standing and leaving the room.

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

Danny slowly started to become aware of his senses. His head felt foggy as he shook off the last of the sedatives from his system. He lay there listening to the beeping from his monitors, not the bit inclined to pull himself out of the fog and face the reality of who was behind the attacks. He still couldn't believe it was Stan, but he trusted his team to find out the truth. So if they said it was him, then it was.

Danny turned his head slightly and realised the oxygen mask had been replaced for a nasal cannula again. Taking in a slow, deep breath through his nose, a familiar scent reached his nose and a warm hand took hold of his. Recognising the perfume, he finally forced his tired eyes open and was rewarded by the sight of Amber. Behind her, Grace sat reading a book.

"Hey Jersey," She smiled and push some stray hair from Danny's face.

"You got on a plane after we last spoke didn't you?" he weakly asked, then smiled as she nodded. "Where is everyone?" he asked.

"They're dealing with things," she whispered, not wanting to say too much in front of Grace. "Steve filled me in on everything. They'll be back as soon as they can."

"I'm really glad you're here," Danny said, bringing their joined hands to his mouth and kissing the back of her hand.

"Where else would I be?" Amber replied and smiled sweetly.

Grace put her book down and moved over to the bed. She had seen her dad wake up but hung back allowing him and Amber to have a few moments together. "Are you feeling better Danno? Uncle Steve said you were really tired and needed to sleep."

"A bit better now, thanks monkey. How could I not be with both my girls here," Danny said tenderly.

"Danno, what's going on? Everyone left and I know something's wrong. Where did Mom and Step-Stan go?" Grace asked perceptively.

Danny sighed, then took hold of the bed remote and slowly sat himself up. "Monkey, I don't really know myself. But I think Stan did something really bad and they are having to sort it out."

Grace seemed to accept the explanation, much to Danny's relief. He didn't feel well enough to deal with a distraught daughter.

Thirty minutes later the team returned, Rachel following behind. Danny noticed her eyes were red and it was obvious she had been crying. He was relieved that the team had obviously cleared her. This was going to be hard on Grace as it was, she didn't need her mother taken away from her too. Grace ran to greet Rachel, "Mom, what's going on? Where's Step-Stan? Danno said he did something bad."

"He did, sweetheart. Something really bad. I'll explain when we get home," She said, hugging her daughter, then looked over at Danny. "Danny, I'm so sorry. I had no idea."

"I know. You would never do that to Grace," Danny simply stated.

Rachel gave him a smile, then sniffed back her tears. "I'd like to take her home now. But I'll bring her back tomorrow."

Danny nodded, then wished his daughter good bye and watched her leave his ICU room. He sank back into his pillow exhausted. The pain in his stomach had gradually been building since he woke up and he was keenly aware of every tube, drip and wire attached to his body.

"How you doing, Danno?" Steve asked, concerned for his friends emotional well-being as well as his health.

"Honestly, I have no idea. I feel terrible and I don't even have the energy to process all this. I don't get it. Why? Why'd he do it?" Danny asked, while fiddling with the oxygen saturation clip on his finger.

"With you out of the way, he could have his family all in Vegas. He said his and Rachel's marriage was breaking down and he was trying to save it," Kono explained.

"Oh!" Danny exclaimed. Unsure what to say or do next, he shifted awkwardly in bed, then regretted it as it caused pain to flair in his stomach. He sucked in a big breath and squeezed his eyes shut. His hand that didn't have hold of Ambers gripped the bed sheets.

"Easy, Danno. Try to breathe through it. Kono went to get the nurse," Steve reassured.

Danny focused on his breathing, sensing the nurse enter the room and move to the side of the bed. After quickly checking his vitals, she pressed a button on one of the machines at the side of Danny and it dispensed more pain killers into his system. The pain gradually ebbed away and Danny was able to release the bed sheets and open his eyes. The nurse instructed him to take it easy and rest before leaving the room. She was aware of the emotional turmoil they were all going through, and was concerned about the effects it was having on her already weak patient.

"Just relax, Danny. Stan is going to spend the rest of his life behind bars. You just need to focus on getting better," Steve reassured.

Danny nodded and whispered, "Thanks guys," before the pain killers sent him to sleep again.

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

**Note: Well here is my usually fluffy chapter to round off the story. Thank you all so much for the support and reviews on this one. Managed to get it all posted before my holiday on sunday. I'll be taking my I pad with me but don't expect much time to write any of my new story. So will probably be a while before my next one is posted. **

**Chapter Fourteen.**

A week later, Steve unlocked the door to Danny's house and held it open for Danny to enter. He had spent the week slowly recovering from the stab wound and finally was strong enough to leave the hospital.

He and Steve had had a blazing row about Danny returning to his own home instead of Steve's. Steve had insisted that Danny wasn't strong enough to take care of himself just yet and would be better staying with him for a week. But Danny was adamant that he would return home and Amber would be staying at Danny's and helping out around her work. The row had continued until Danny had finally admitted that he didn't feel comfortable just yet returning to Steve's where he had been attacked. It was all too fresh. Steve had been forced to back down, but told Danny that he would be calling in throughout the day to check on him.

Danny slowly lowered himself to sit on the couch. The trip home had left him tired and uncomfortable. Two pills and a bottle of water appeared in front of him and he gladly accepted them with a nod of thanks.

Amber then arrived at the door carrying two bags of groceries. Steve hurried out to help bring in the rest of the shopping. "You're early," she said disappointed. "I was planning on getting lunch all sorted before you got home and I had a surprise planned for you."

"Sorry babe, I couldn't wait to get out of there. I sweet talked Dr. Pearce into an early discharge. What was the surprise?" Danny asked.

"I think I know," Steve said appearing at the door, arms full of groceries. "Look who just turned up."

"Danno!" Grace called, appearing from behind Steve's legs. She ran over to him and carefully hugged him and he hugged her back.

"Hey baby, how'd you get here?" Danny asked.

"I dropped her off," Rachel said, entering the house, Charlie holding onto her hand. "We thought she should be here for your grand return home. If you feel up to it she can stay the night."

"I always feel up to time with my monkey," he said, tickling Grace and causing a fit of giggles.

"Okay, well just call when you want me to pick her up," Rachel said awkwardly and went to leave.

"Rach wait,' Danny called after her. "Don't go yet, stay for lunch."

"I don't want to impose. You just got home," Rachel said, unsure of Danny's motives.

"You're not. There's enough, right?" Danny asked Amber, who nodded then moved off into the kitchen to start setting it out. She and Danny had talked about the fact that Danny was concerned about how this had effected Rachel and what her plans for the future would be.

"Well if you're sure," she said, taking a seat opposite Danny.

"Grace, why don't you go show Charlie your room?" Danny suggested.

Grace nodded and led Charlie off. "I'll go give Amber a hand," Steve said, making himself scarce.

"She seems nice... Amber. Grace certainly likes her," she said politely.

"Yeah, she is. I'm actually happy for the first time in a long time," Danny replied. "How about you Rach? How are you doing?"

"I'm just taking it one day at a time. I'm still finding it hard to accept that the man I loved was capable of that. I filed for divorce this morning, and started looking at houses for the children and I. We can't stay at the marital home, it wouldn't feel right." she said, tears filling her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Rach," Danny whispered.

"You don't have to be sorry. You didn't ask for this. He almost killed you." She started to cry.

"Okay Rach, you're gonna have to come to me cos I can't get up to comfort you," Danny said, holding out his arms, the bandage to his left arm still present from the slash wound.

Rachel cautiously moved to the side of Danny who wrapped his arms around her. "Look, I know things haven't been that great between us for a long time. But we were best friends once and I could tell you anything. I want to be there for you, and Grace needs us to be strong for her. I know she is putting on a brave face, as much as I hate to admit it. She did love Stan, and this is hard on her. So what do you say to a fresh start?"

"That would be great. Thank you for being so understanding," Rachel said, wiping the tears away.

There was a brief knock at the door as Chin and Kono entered the house. "Good to see you home brah," Chin said.

"Sorry, are we interrupting?" Kono asked, seeing Rachel and her red eyes.

"No, perfect timing," Danny said. "You can give me a hand to get off this couch. I forgot how low it is," Danny said, sitting forward. "Amber and Steve are sorting lunch and Rachel and Charlie are joining us."

Kono and Chin helped Danny to his feet and Rachel went to fetch the children. Soon they all were sitting around the dining table enjoying lunch. They had all had had a rubbish few weeks and almost lost Danny several times. But thankfully, he was now well on the mend. The team could focus on getting him back to full strength and supporting Grace through the hard times ahead as she adjusted to Stan not being around.

The End.


End file.
